Meat pkoduct and method of treat



April 1952 H. M. CONDON Re. 23,482

MEAT PRODUCT AND METHOD OF TREATING MEAT Original Filed March 27, 1947IN VEN TOR. HOward Wi- Condo Reissuecl Apr. 29,1952 Re,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MEAT PRODUCT AND IVIETHOD OF TREAT- ING MEATHoward M. Condon, Akron, Ohio, assignor to Grand Duchess Steaks, Inc.,Akron, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Original No. 2,527,493, dated October24, 1950, Serial No. 737,501, March 27, 1947. Application for reissueAugust 17, 1951, Serial No. 242,337

9 Claims. (Cl; 99-194) Matter enclosed in heavy brackets I: appears inthe original patent but forms no part of this reissue specification;matter printed in italics indicates the additions made by reissue.

2 maintained in the substantially compact or solid form of Figure 1, asby use of temporarybinding means (not shown), may be placed in a knowntype of rapid freezing unit and frozen hard throughout. The temperaturerange suitable for this purpose may be from 20 to 40 below Thisinvention relates to a meat product and to a method of treating meat.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved meat product,particularly adaptable for sale in quick frozen state, in which substanvtially all of the original color and flavor of the meat is retained, andwhich has the additional F. This freezing of the block [0, by the natureadvantage of being easily digestible regardless of the meat, will bindthe elongated strips ll of the fibrous structure of the original meat.together.

Another object of the invention is to provide av Referring now to Fig.2, the hard frozen block meat product of the character described adaptedof meat I!) may be placed in a suitable slicin to be convenientlypackaged in quick frozen conmachine I2 having a rotary cutter [3 to cut,in dition and to be cooked in desired cake or patty rapid succession,paper thin slices of meat from form inarelatively few minutes. the endof the block. Although in the frozen Another object of the invention isto provide- 1 condition of the block the strips are cohesively a simpleand economical method for preparing held together by fusion of thenatural moisture the improved meat product described above. of meat,when said thin slices are thus removed,

Other objects of the invention will be manifest such cohesion isinsufficient to prevent separafrom the followin brief description andthe ac tion of the corresponding slice portions from the companyingdrawings. respective strips H, and each of the thin slices,

Of theaccompanying drawings: therefore, in falling away from the cutterl3 ,Figure 1 is a perspective view of a chunk or separates into aplurality of chip-like, paper-thin block of meat cut into elongatedstrips in accordpieces or flakes [4, I4. The chips or flakes l4 ancewith one of the method steps of the invenmay be allowed, for instance,to fall through a tion. funnel l5 into an open ended, stainless steelcylin- Figure 2 is a side elevation, partly broken away der [6, ofdesired size and cross-section to coland in section, illustratingapparatus for carrylect a correspondingly shaped mass ll of flakes ingout a meat flaking operation of the inven- I4 on a surface IS. The mass11 may be packaged or otherwise maintained in loose form or it may tion.

Figure 3 is a cross-section, on an enlarged scale, be compressed intocompact form in any desired taken substantiall on the line 3-3 of Figure2. shape or size. As a typical illustration, a compact mass of flakes l4may be packaged in a suitable closed container I8, either in one solidmass, or in a series of cakes or patties 20 separated Referringparticularly to Figure 1, as an illusas by means of wax paper spacers2|. As best trative example, the method of the invention may" shown inFigures 3 and 4, the flakes of the patties be carried out by firstproviding a boneless chunk in particular are arranged haphazardly ingencr block [0 of raw or uncooked meat and cutting erally superposed andsubstantially overlapping the same, by use of any suitable cutting meansrelation. In any case, the packaged product (not shown), into elongatedcoextending strips 4 may be placed in quick freezing equipment H, H ofrelatively small cross-section, as com-'-" and thereafter retained infrozen condition pared with the cross-section of the chunk. The untilready for use. If the packaged prodoriginal chunk 16, of course, mightalso be comnet is retained in one solid piece, as described, posed ofseveral relatively smaller chunks or segparts thereof may be separatedor cut from the mcnts either naturally constituted therein or ,45 wholemass and formed into any desired size or otherwise arranged in the same,or it could be shape, as for example, into a cake or patty to formed byarranging elongated cuts or pieces be fried, broiled. or otherwiseprepared for eat- H, H from any source, or from different kinds ing.Should the product be packaged in patty of meat, such as beef, pork,veal, etc., In any form, as shown in Figure 4, it is only necessaryevent, the block In of elongated strips H, while to to remove thepattiesas desired for use. As illus- Figure 4 is a vertical cross-sectionthrough a package containin flaked meat produced in accordance with theinvention.

trated in Figure 3, the flakes 14 are of approximately one-twentieth ofthe lateral area of the patties, although it is self-evident that thesize of the flakes may vary considerably according to conditions, suchas the size of the pieces in block 10, the texture of the meat, and thenumber of blades on cutter 13 and/or the speed of rotation thereof.

During the flaking operations, as shown in Figure 2, suet or fat insuitable form and proportions may be added, if desired. Flavoringmaterials are easily added in the same way.

When the strips II are arranged in the block Ill with the fibrestructure thereof extending longitudinally of the strips, the resultingproduct inherently comprises a multiplicity of flakes I4, I 4, ofnon-fibrous nature, and therefore easily digestible when cooked,regardless of how tough the original meat cuts may have been. It hasbeen found that by the use of the herein described process the originalcoloring and flavoring of the meat is preserved in the frozen packagedproduct until read for use. [It is contemplated, however, that the abovedescribed flaking process may be similarly carried out with the use ofcooked or partially cooked meat as a basis in the block I of strips Il.]

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the flakes of hard frozenraw meat, as cut from the block in Figure 2, immediately begin to thawupon exposure to atmosphere and that this thawing process goes on as theflakes collect into the patty of Figure 3. Thus, by nature of thesepaper thin meat flakes they are at least partially softened uponexposure to the atmosphere, so that when the at least partially softenedflakes are compressed into a compact mass of patty shape and size forcooking purposes they unite much in the manner of snowflakes in asnowball. By the method described solid meat of tough, fibrousconsistency may .be virtually taken apart and reintegrated into solidmasses of tender, non-fibrous meat of uniform consistency and flavor. Itis also self-evident that there is a limit to the size of paper thinflakes which can be separated from a solid block of hard frozen rawmeatby a rotating cutter, since such very thin hard frozen flakes breakeasily.

Modifications of the invention may be resorted to without departing fromthe spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of treating meat, which comprises the steps of providing ablock composed of a plurality ofnon-coherently, longitudinallycoextending strips of raw meat of relatively small transversecross-section as compared with the transverse cross-section of theblock, freezing the block to substantially hardened state throughout,slicing relative thin slices from the hardened block in planestransversely of said strips, the removed slices thereby separating intorelatively small flakes from said coextending strips, and forming theflakes into a compact plurality of non-coherently, longitudinallyfcoextending strips maintained in the block, freezing said cut block tohardened state, removing relatively thin slices from the frozen blocktransversely of said strips, each of the slices thereby separating intoa substantial number of relatively small flakes from the respectivepieces of the block, and compressing said flakes into a compactintegrated mass of desired size and flattened patty shape for cookingpurposes, the average size of said flakes being a relatively smallfraction of the broad lateral area of the pattyshaped mass.

3. A method of treating meat, which comprises the steps of providing ablock composed of noncoherently, longitudinally coextending strips ofraw meat in hard frozen state throughout, the average transversecross-section of said strips being a relatively small fraction of thetotal cross-section of the block transversely thereof, cuttingrelatively thin slices from the frozen block in planes transversely ofsaid strips, the removed slices thereby separating into relatively smallflakes from the respective strips of the block, and compressing amultiplicity of said flakes into a compact integrated mass of desiredsize and flattened patty shape for cooking purposes, said strips of meatin said block having the fibres thereof extending generallylongitudinally thereof, and the resulting flakes thereby beingsubstantially non-fibrous, the average size of said flakes being arelative small fraction of the broad lateral area of the patty-shapedmass. 7

4. A meat product comprising a compact integrated mass for cookingpurposes, said mass being composed of a multiplicity of relatively thinsubstantially non-fibrous flakes of raw meat, said flakes inherently inthe mass being in generally superposed, substantially overlappingrelation.

'5. A meat product comprising a compact integrated mass of relatively"thin, substantially non-fibrous flakes of raw meat, said mass being of aflattened patty shape and size for cooking purposes, said flakesinherently in the mass being, in generally superposed, substantiallyoverlapping relation.

6. A meat product as set forth in claim 4, said mass being inhard-frozen condition.

'7. A meat product as set forth in claim 5, said mass being inhard-frozen condition.

8. A method of treating meat, which comprises the steps of providing ablock composed of a plurality of separate pieces of raw meat ofrelatively small cross-section compared with the transversecross-section of the block, freezing the block to substantially hardenedstate throughout, slicing relatively thin slices from the hardened blockin planes transversely through said pieces whereby the removed slicesseparate into relatively small flakes from said pieces, forming theflakes into a compact integrated mass thereof of desired size and shape,the average size of said flakes being such as would require asubstantial number of the same to cover the broad lateral surface areaof a said mass in flattened patty form for cooking purposes, and furtherfreezing said mass to substantially hardened state throughout.

9. A method of treating meat, which comprises the steps of providing ablock of meat in substantially hard frozen state throughout and composedof pieces of raw meat of relatively small transverse cross-section ascompared with the transverse cross-section of the block th,roughout thelength thereof slicing relatively thin slices from the hardenedxblock'in planes REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in thefile of this or the original patent:

6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Na-me Date Waters June 14, 1921 DubilAug. 25, 1936 Holly Dec. 10, 1940 Carpenter May 20, 1941 Linane et al.Sept. 16, 1941 Tansley Mar. 26, 1946

